Stumbling in the Dark
by minarie
Summary: The World Dragon Council discovers something about Jake that just might change everything they thought is truth.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: I've just watched this video called _107 American Dragon: Jake Long Facts YOU Should Know_ about a cartoon I used to love and there was one particular fact that got my attention. It just seemed really cool to me and it would be amazing if it really happened on the show, so I decided to write a fanfiction about that because why the hell not.

Okay, so this may all seem a little bit rushed, I just don´t like describing stuff. Also, I´m in high school so my English will probably look like it – not a native speaker (so I don´t really know anything about how things actually work in the US).

Oh, and I'm afraid everyone is kind of OOC in here (especially Lao Shi and Rose and The Dragon Council and so on). But I think I nailed Fu Dog.

This is set somewhere after season 1, but there will probably be some references from season 2 as well.

.

.

 _June 2008_

"Lao! Lao!" yelled Fu Dog as he ran inside the Canal Street Electronics shop.

"Fu. What is going on?" asked Lao Shi calmly while sitting behind the cash box and pouring himself a cup of tea. It was a sunny day.

"It's about Jake. The Dragon Council..."

"Has Jake thrown a party, and the Dragon Council took his powers again?"

Fu looked dumbfounded for a second. "Okay, first of all, how do you know about that? And second, no. No, I just heard a word from the street - the Dragon Council arrested him."

"What?"

.

The speed that Lao Shi took to get to the Isle of Draco was impressive.

Andam, Kulde and Omina, the main members of the Dragon Council, all seemed to go a little white at the sight of him. The other members behind the golden table quickly started pretending to be reading some important papers.

"Mister Lao Shi," coughed Omina after a while. "To what do we owe this honour?"

Lao Shi was red with rage. "To what - how can you arrest Jake just like that without me knowing about it?! He's not even of age! Did you just snatch him right out of New York or -"

"Lao Shi, calm down," interrupted him Andam. "In the case of Jake Long, we acted the way we found necessary. A very critical situation has emerged."

" _Hmph_ , a very critical situation you say." Fu rolled his eyes. "What, you heard him saying you're nothing but a bunch of old lizards? 'Cause that would never cross _my_ mind."

Kulde stared at him coldly and then turned back to face Lao Shi. "No... In a manner of speaking, your grandson didn't do anything. Yet."

After seeing their confused glances, Omina continued. "Today we were working on our traditional control of all dragons that are known to us and their dragon chis. We do it once in four years. It is..."

"Councilor Omina, it was me who suggested you do these controls in the first place. I know what it's about," said Lao Shi drily. "You take a little piece of a dragon chi and check whether there is anything amiss. Then you compare it with the chi that resembles it most."

"... Yes. Well, there was nothing wrong with Dragon Long's chi, just... we have found a nearly perfect match with a different chi we have in here."

"How is that a crime?" asked Fu. "Match with whose chi?"

"At first we weren't sure it wasn't just a mistake," explained Andam. "We have that particular chi more or less thanks to a lucky chance. Someone gave us a claw we added to the database."

"Okay..." replied Fu. "So? Gentlemen and Omina, I suggest you quickly get to the point, because Lao here is running out of patience he didn't even have." He waved his paw towards Lao Shi, who was breathing heavily.

Kulde leaned forward ominously. "We are convinced that Jake Long and the Dark Dragon are the same person."

.

.

Author's Note: So back to the video, it's the fact n.92 (time 18:14). I kind of know where this story is going so I'll try to make it into sentences and keep posting :)


	2. Chapter 2

_The Isle od Draco_

 _„We are convinced that Jake Long and the Dark Dragon are the same person."_

"... what?!"

"You have already asked in a similar wording to this eight times, dog."

"Well, let me asked for the ninth: _What_?!"

The three Councilors, Lao Shi and Fu were currently standing in a round room filled with hundreds of dragon chis. Councilor Omina skilfully seized two specific samples and put them on a desk in front of them. It didn't take long, and a magic hologram of a much bigger chis appeared.

"As you can see, excluding the little violet spot in the Dark Dragon's chi - we're still not sure how that was created - these chis are completely identical," said Andam. They were watching two blue shapes, both moving in the same pattern. "I'm sure you are aware that every dragon chi is completely different. For example, if I took Haley Long's chi here..." he took a slightly smaller ball of chi and also put it on the desk, "... then you can see that even though no chi in the world should be more like the American dragon's than hers, it still looks very different. We cannot say that with the Dark Dragon's claw."

"Yeah, you mean the claw that _Jake_ gave you," grumbled Fu. "How exactly does this make sense to you? Or the fact that the Dark Dragon has been around for, like, 60 years? And Jake... wait, how old is Jake... ? Well, definitely less than 20."

"You think he got here from the future?" asked Lao Shi. He was looking at the Councilors.

Fu blinked at him unbelievingly. "Wait, you're in this conspiracy now too?"

Lao Shi did not answer.

"Yes, we thought that could explain this," agreed Kulde. "Yet, there still seems to be something that does not fit, and it goes against the whole thought."

Silence.

"Oh, we thought you were going to tell us," said Fu.

"Sorry?" Kulde waved his hand dismissively. „Oh, you should probably figure that out on your own..."

.

Jake Long, the American Dragon, has just spent almost 20 minutes pacing around the room, and he felt like he was about to go crazy from it. Very soon.

He couldn't help himself and kept scratching his wrists. That's where the ugly magic-unfriendly wristbands were given to him and it itched like hell.

The Dragon Council hasn't told him much when they flew towards him in the middle of his day just when he was heading to the skatepark, but what they told him was enough.

"Ridiculous," he murmured and stopped his pacing in front of the only window in the room. "The Amdrag should be flying above the Big Apple right now and saving fairies in trouble or something, not being stuck here because some ancient council doesn't like him..."

Then he heard the door being opened with a loud screech. He turned around quickly. It was Lao Shi with Fu Dog.

"G! Tell me you don't believe this crap, told them that and we can go!"

Lao Shi wearily shook his head. "The Dragon Council still wants to keep you in here."

"But I haven't done anything! I mean, how can they arrest me for something they _think_ I will do in a very distant future? How is that even legal?!"

"They would agree with you, kid, if they were accusing you of being someone else," spoke up Fu. "Anyone. Seriously, anyone else."

Jake exhaustedly slumped down on a bench and rubbed the nape of his neck. Nobody spoke for a while. Then Jake looked at his grandfather with a much more solemn expression than which was usual for him.

"Alright. Let's say, in theory, that at some point I will due to an acceptable reason turn to the dark side, go dark and big, use the time watches, visit the 50's and start murdering dragons and ranting about how I want to kill off the humanity. Ok, makes zero sense, but work with me here. But why would I try to kill _you_ in the past? As much as I could have hated you, that would most likely kill me as well. Hey look, I found an obvious loophole in this fairytale, let's go home guys."

Lao Shi sighed. "I've been thinking about this since they first told me this theory. It must be the thing Councilor Klude meant."

"Wait, and you couldn't have said this very important information to me? Lao Shi, for how long have we known each oth-"

"Fu, be quiet. Anyway, I have come to the conclusion that in the year 1972 the... Dark Dragon wasn't probably actually trying to kill me. I was trying to kill _him_ , but I'd say that he just wanted to... win. Or more precisely, to prove that he's better. Now..." Lao Shi glanced at Jake. "I don't know whether I'm just imagining all these similarities I can suddenly see."

"Come on!" huffed Jake and jumped to his feet again. "Oh man! Then stop looking for the similarities, 'cause this isn't truth! How could I..." His voice trailed off, and he quickly turned back to face the window, his hands shaking a little.

"Jake," said Lao Shi firmly. "We will make sure the Dragon Council will release you, and then we'll find out what exactly got the Dark Dragon on the other side, regardless of your connection to any of it. I can promise you that now."


	3. Chapter 3

Kulde blinked at them as if he thought they were being incredibly silly.

"No way! We are not letting him go until he is free of all charges!"

"What charges?" asked Sun Park incredulously. Lao Shi and Fu have already explained to her what is going on. She is an important person on the island, so she had better chances of persuading the Councilors. "Jake hasn't done anything!"

"We do not know that for sure," objected Kulde sharply. "The Dark Dragon coming from the future was merely our first idea. But what if he's right here, and has been travelling to the past from this point?"

"All right, that is truly absurd," replied Fu and looked around the gold room. "Everyone agrees with me, right?"

"It is absurd," said La Shi. He was staring at Kulde with disdain. "You are implying that my 16-year-old grandson is currently in possession of Uchrono Hourglass, and travels into the past to slay dragons? Jake has fought the Dark Dragon recently, for God's sake!"

"Yes, well, the Dragon Council has no proof of that," replied Kulde arrogantly.

Andam sighed. "Kulde... maybe we could let him go back to America, with restrictions..."

"Out of the question. New York is one of the biggest areas of magic community. Am I the only one here who is trying to do his job, to protect the magical creatures? Omina?"

Omina was currently searching for something in the pages of some golden book. "We should keep the boy in here at least for another few weeks, and meanwhile find out what is.."

"With all due respect, Councilors," began Sun, "what you just said makes zero sense. Who is going to protect the magic creatures in New York if Jake won't be there?"

"America has gone hundreds of years without a dragon protector."

"Yes, and we all know it was a disaster."

Kulde suddenly rose up from his chair and looked at Sun coldly. "Well, in that case, I'm sure you and your student will be able to take care of this city for a while, won't you?"

.

"Fu, start preparing everything we need for a tracking potion," commanded Lao Shi as soon as they arrived to their private rooms and the door behind them closed. Sun was still arguing with the Council when they left.

"Eh, why?" asked Fu.

The former Chinese Dragon threw something at him. Fu caught it in his paw and gawked at it incredulously. It was a big claw.

"Because I have the Dark Dragon's DNA and I need to talk to him very urgently."

"Hoo," laughed Fu a bit nervously. "Well, I'm relieved you _also_ did something the Council probably wouldn't exactly like..."

"Fu, what have you done?"

.

 _New York_

For a long time, cold waves bumping into cliffs was the only sound they heard.

"Okay," said Rose eventually. "That's a big deal."

Jake grimaced. "Tell me about it. I mean, I'd be fine with knowing that the Council believes it, that G believes it... but now I fear _I_ believe it."

"Maybe we're all bad in the end," spoke Rose softly. "How can you know what happened?"

They were sitting on their jackets on a New York's shore. It was a chilly night and the only thing which was currently keeping Rose warm was Jake's abnormally hot aura.

Jake rubbed his eyes wearily. "I don't know if I should come back."

"I thought they let you go in the end."

"Wha? No, I broke out."

" _Jake!_ You were innocent before that, but now they have an actual crime on you! What if they'll never let you go?"

Jake grinned at her. "Well, babe, that's exactly my problem right there."

Rose smiled, even though it was obvious she was worried. "And how did you manage to escape?"

"Fu left the door open by accident. And he dropped the key to my magic-stopping wristbands in the hallway. Along with a map describing how to get from the Isle of Draco without the crazy elevator. I am very lucky he is so forgetful."

"Remind me I owe him a hotdog. Or three."

"Will do."

"So, what are you going to do? Try to find the Dark Dragon?"

"I really don't want to do that. Maybe I'll find my mum though and explain to her why I missed dinner yesterday..."

"And Trixie and Spud?"

For a while, Jake was silent and only watching the water before them. "I'm not telling them. They'd start freaking out a I can't deal with that."

Rose lowered her eyes. She didn't really agree with that, but she kept quiet.

"Hey." Jake nudged her lightly. "All will be swell! It won't take long and we'll be on Trixie's rooftop again, practising fake fights for the Huntsman."

Rose, with a light smile, moved a bit closer to him and kissed him on the cheek. "You say that as if that was the most amazing thing you and me have ever done."

Author's Note: Jake is 16, so this is set two or three years after season 1, with some references to season 2. And Trixie and Spud _will_ appear. So far I think pretty much everyone will eventually appear :)


	4. Chapter 4

"The American Dragon is gone!" announced Andam loudly as he entered the main hall of the Isle of Draco. It was a bright morning.

"Oh my God!" bursted out Fu with a look of disbelief. "How?! Do you think he had an accomplice?!"

"Fu, cut it out," hissed Lao Shi at him.

Klude sneered. "Congratulations, Lao Shi. Your grandson is now officially a criminal. That's the kind of proof you and Sun Park wanted, right?"

„你们这些愚蠢自大的猴子.." began Lao Shi angrily, but Omina stopped him before it could get nasty.

"We have already sent dragons to find Jake Long, though we are not neglecting the fact that he is still a minor..."

"Which means, that as his dragon master it should me being held responsible for his actions," said Lao Shi firmly.

"Well, in that case, we're still looking for him because he is a _lost_ _dragon_ ," said Andam and clapped his hands. "We have to find him as soon as possible, for his own good, and for the good of the United States of America."

Fu gaped at him as if he has never seen anyone that stupid in his entire life, and decided to do the smart thing and leave the room. Lao Shi looked like he wanted to say something, but in the end he decided to follow Fu.

.

 _New York_

"Okay," said Haley cheerfully. "A philosopher named Socrates had an idea that no one is really evil, that everyone only does the things they _think_ are good, without knowing they're not... why do you need to know this again?"

Jake carefully drew aside the curtains covering the window and looked out of it. "Well, don´t you think it's, like... really interesting?"

"Of course it is, not for you though. Jake, I skipped my Music class just because you said this was important, and now we´re stuck here in a room with no light on and a printing machine. In my school. What's up? Where were you yesterday? Mum was worried..."

"I've already went to tell her I'm alright. For how long has this Sokra-guy been dead?"

"Hm... about two thousand years... and a half... and something."

"You have something more up to date?"

"Well, there's the Baum test, in which you're supposed to draw a tree - Jake, stop looking out of that window, it's really freaking me out!"

Jake smiled, but there was some nervousness in it. "What is freaking you out, sis? Can't I just watch the summer nature?"

Haley threw her hands in the air. „I can't decide if the FBI is gonna burst in here or if you have few hours to live and you just enjoy the view. So _stop_ it!"

Jake looked at her, didn´t answer, sat on the old printing machine and took one of the many papers in the room, along with the pen Haley gave him. His dragon eyes were glowing in the dark. "So, you said a tree?"

.

Two men, each frowning and dressed in old-fashioned clothes, walked in the class in Fillmore High School.

"Students," addressed professor Rotwood, "as you can see, we have visitors. Those gentlemen are mister John and mister Smith and they would like to ask you a few questions."

" _Pff_ , mister John and mister Smith?" smirked Trixie as she leaned towards Spud. "That sounds likely."

"Actually, we merely wish to sepak with Miss Carter and mister Spudinski," announced Smith.

Trixie and Spud glanced at each other in puzzlement.

"Do you happen to know why your friend, Jake Long, is not at school today?" asked John after they have gone to the corridor. He was even showing them Jake's photo, probably in case they've forgotten what he looks like.

"No idea, dude," said Spud in a friendly manner. "Could be the flu that has been flying around."

"No, he isn't sick."

"That's good. Wait..."

"How do you know he isn't sick?" questioned Trixie with narrowed eyes.

John pulled out a pocket notebook. "I assume you two are aware of the fact that your friend is - sorry, was - the American Dragon?"

"Ehm... yes?" answered Trixie uncertainly. "Wait, no, no, I changed my mind. What, _dragon_?"

John started noting down. "Great, we have another crime. Exposing the existence of magical world to two humans. That and the escape will keep him with us for a few years..."

"We're not supposed to know about it?!" exclaimed Spud. " _Oh_! That actually explains a lot..."

"We found out about it by accident," blurted out Trixie to save things a little. "Jake... doesn't know we know... ?"

"Of course he doesn't, Miss Carter..."

Meanwhile, Rose was hiding behind the lockers and listening in terror to what they were saying.

"This isn't good," she whispered. Then she pulled out a cellphone from her pocket and quickly typed in a message for Jake.

I HOPE YOU'RE NOT IN THE CITY ANYMORE. IT´S NOT SAFE. HG

"Okay, that will be all, you can come back to your class," said Smith to Trixie and Spud.

"Can we take the picture?" asked Spud and pointed at Jake's photo which was being held by Smith.

"Why?" asked John, Smith and Trixie all at once.

Spud shrugged. "I think he'll want it once he comes back."

Trixie punched his arm angrily. "Spudinski!"

.

Jake nervously ran a hand through his hair as he read the message he just got from Rose. He glanced around the small room in Haley's school he was still hiding in.

When Haley came back from lunch, she was also holding a phone in her hand. "Jake? Why did Sun just call me to say that all the American Dragon responsibilities are now my responsibilities for an indefinite period? ... Jake?"

But everything there was left of her brother was a picture of a tree and an open window.


	5. Chapter 5

"You do realize you'll end up being in even worse trouble if they catch you with me, right?" asked Rose as she and Jake walked swiftly towards the bus. "As far as I know, the Dragon Council has no idea I'm on your side."

"Yep," was the answer Jake gave her. "We'll be like Bonnie and Clyde."

"Thanks for the reassurance."

"Always. Are we seriously fleeing to Canada?"

"Yeah. There's a... safe house in Montreal."

"You speak French?"

"No, but there is no French in there. And the Dragon Council will never look for you in there, trust me."

.

 _Isle of Draco_

"When is this going to be done?" asked Lao Shi. He and Fu have been staring at the violet potion bubbling for almost three hours now.

"Ah, that is a good question. Maybe minutes, maybe hours, maybe days..."

"Fu, you idiotically let Jake run away and now we have to get this done before they find him, so tell me something useful!"

"Hm... Sun is here!"

Sun really walked into the room and didn't seem surprised at all when she saw Lao Shi preparing a very dangerously looking potion.

"The Dragon Council is going over all recorded attacks of the Dark Dragon right now and trying to find a connection, which I think is useless. Also, there's this one guy who's studying laws and calculating for how long they can keep Jake here with the crimes they have on him. Hello, Fu. The two of you are trying to find the Dark Dragon?"

Lao Shi and Fu were gaping at her.

"Who are you and what have you done with Sun Park?" gasped Fu.

Sun sighed. "It really bugs me, how the Dragon Council is dealing with this whole situation. Jake doesn't deserve that, not after everything he has done for them."

"Oh, it's almost ready!" exclaimed Fu. The potion suddenly really stopped bubbling. "Somebody put the claw in it, quickly!"

Lao Shi had done so. Nothing happened.

"There, it's done," chuckled Fu.

Sun blinked a few times. "Is that all?"

"Not everything has to end in an explosion or a great light show. Should I take a world map or just the States?"

"I have a hunch he's in the States," replied Lao Shi.

Fu nodded and pulled a big map of the United States out of his fur. He then unfolded the map on the floor. He looked at Lao Shi. "Erm, can you do the honors? My muscles aren't what they used to be..."

Lao Shi rolled his eyes, transformed into a big blue dragon, gripped the cauldron and carefully poured out the potion on the map.

"So, DD, where are you hiding?" sang Fu. They all were looking at the map in anticipation.

"Why doesn't the Dragon Council use this to find Jake?" asked Sun.

"Because using a part of someone's separated soul, or more precisely chi, to get an information about the current state of a person, is actually illegal," answered Lao Shi. "Why do you think we are, my dear, doing this behind closed doors?"

"He's somewhere in the east!" announced Fu.

The potion poured on the map has begun to flow into a concrete shape now. Illinois, Indiana, Ohio... Michigan.

"He's in Detroit." Fu trimphantly pointed at the only place on the map which stayed spotless from the potion. "Of course he's in Detroit. And somewhere in the north of Detroit. It's probably not gonna be much more specific than that."

"Sun, the Council-" began Lao Shi, who was already putting a coat on.

"I'll make up something to explain why you left," smiled Sun.

"Thank you."

Once they were gone, Sun squinted at the map. She noticed the potion hasn't stopped moving yet. The place in Detroit stayed marked, but the potion started creating something different as well, a bit more on the north.

Sun stared in confusion when the potion marked a place on American and Canadian borders. She looked around in panic to check no else one is in the room. Then she took the map and shook with it a little, so that the potion would flow down.

.

 _New York_

Haley, Trixie and Spud met up in the Canal Street Electronics's back room.

"So we all agree that Jakey is in big trouble, right?" asked Trixie, glancing around them.

"Yeah, guys who look like they slept a couple of centuries are after him!" said Spud.

Haley bit her lip. "Those were most likely members of the Dragon Council. Only they can take Jake's title of the American Dragon away from him and give it to me."

"Ok, I don't care what Jake did, I'm on his side," decided Trix without hesitation. "So what do we do to help him?"

"Jake was here today, and probably overnight," mentioned Haley quietly.

Spud snapped his fingers. "So let's go to Magus Bazar to leak a message that if anyone saw him they should keep quiet. They'll listen after everything he has done for them."

He and Trixie got up.

"I'm not sure that's a good idea," objected Haley. "Neither Sun nor grandpa aren't answering my calls... God, _Fu_ isn't answering my calls. So this could be something really serious and if that's the case, then I don't think it's wise to go directly against the Dragon Council."

"But the magical creatures won't be listening to just two humans!" groaned Trixie. "Haley, come on, act like Jake's sister!"

"Was that an encouragement?"

"I can see now it was a bad one. You know Jake would do it for you in a heartbeat!"

"That's because he's irresponsible and doesn't care about the consequences of his actions, I do!" snapped Haley.

"Whatever. Let's go, Spudinski." Trixie grabbed dumfounded Spud by his sleeve and soon they were gone.

Haley looked down. Jake's photo, which Spud put in there, was lying on the carpet.

"Oh, I always knew I would end up in jail because of him," she said eventually and then she quickly followed Trixie and Spud.


	6. Chapter 6

_Montreal_

Jake and Rose were standing in a big hall. There was a huge bronze sign hunged on the wall. Jake knew it well.

"Rose, how is this a safe place?" he asked doubtfully. "For me?"

"They will never find you," explained Rose as she went to the metal door under the sign. "Why would they look for you here?"

"I agree they won't never look for me here, but I think I'd prefer them finding me rather than the Huntsclan. You do remember I'm a dragon, right?"

"You do remember you can look like human, right?"

Jake sighed. "Is this the Academy? Am I in the Academy again? 'Cause I can handle that."

"No, this is the most important headquarters of the Huntsclan on the continent."

"The most -!"

Rose laid her hand on the detector next to the door.

"Identify yourselves," came a voice from behind the door.

"The Huntsgirl, and... a wizard."

"Access given." The door unlocked.

Jake looked at Rose drily. "Are you actively trying to kill me again?"

"What? No! The Huntsclan does not hunt wizards and witches, for them they are just humans who are well skilled in magic. Not real magical creatures. There was a lot of wizards cooperating with us, we have such efficient weapons and so much information about magical words thanks to them. And _I_ have just found another wizard who is willing to help us out."

"Okay, I'm not willing to help you out and I can't help you out because I'm not a wizard!"

"We'll figure something out." Rose came to Jake and squeezed his hand. "So are you in or not?"

"Can I still say no?"

"Well... no, I've already identified you, so they'd have to kill you if you'd want to leave."

Jake, with a forced smile, shook his head and looked at the opened doors in front of them. "I love you."

A few moments later, a giant hunter had his arms crossed and was looking at Jake mistrustfully. Jake just grinned nervously. Rose was standing aside, already dressed in her Huntsgirl clothing.

"So... you're a wizard?"

"Sure thing, bro."

"And you want to help us?"

"Yep."

"Why?"

"Ehm... well why not? I mean, you guys are just..." Jake carefully poked the hunter's broad chest, "... awesome."

"Hmmm."

Nobody spoke for a while. Jake could hear his heart beating.

"You're in," decided the hunter finally and then he left again.

Both Jake and Rose breathed a sigh of relief.

" _Hey_!" Jake turned to her, looking offended. "You're also relieved, so that means this plan of yours wasn't so safe after all, right?"

"Oh, there's kitchen!" announced Rose loudly and hurried to the room with excitement.

.

 _Magus Bazar_

"Yo, Trixie! Check out these pretty fairies!"

They were all now in one of Magus Bazar's crowded alleys. Spud was excitedly pointing at five little fairies, who were braiding each other's hair in front of a magic hair salon. The fairies just looked at him with irritation and so did Trixie.

"Spud! We have a job to do!"

"I don't think it really matters," pointed out Haley once she finally managed to fight her way out of the crowd to get to them. "It seems that no one in here has seen Jake lately."

Spud froze and stared into the hair salon he was standing next to. "Ehm, guys?"

"Oh, great, so this all is just useless," sighed Trixie.

"Guys, I think I have something."

"I knew this was a bad idea!" blurted Haley.

"GIRLS!"

Haley and Trixie looked at Spud questioningly. He was still staring into the salon.

"Is there any chance we have at some point met this angry old lady, who is currently glaring at us from the salon while getting her hair colored?"

Haley yelped. "Yes, there is! That's Chang! Run!"

Once they started to make their way through the crowd, Chang got up from her seat (with her hair only halfway done) and run out of the salon.

"I _knew_ it!" she exclaimed. "I knew it was you! You can run, but you can't hide!" In the next second there was a big purple dragon standing in her place, and she shot up above the crowd and flew after Haley, Trixie and Spud.

Magus Bazar's visitors meanwhile didn't look at all bothered by the commotion. It's actually pretty common in here.

Once she spotted Chang hovering over them, Haley yelled "Dragon up!" and too went up. Then she turned around and tried to send a ball of fire at Chang, but she easily fought if off and flew even faster than before.

"Oh, oh, oh," mumbled Haley and once again fled away.

Trixie and Spud were meanwhile busy getting through the seemingly endless crowd od shoppers in the alleys. They accidentally pushed a few of them hard enough for them to fall on the ground and Spud even managed to anger an elf so much he was now chasing after them as well.

That's when Trixie spotted an alley which seemed to be empty, so she grabbed Spud's sleeve and dragged him there.

Haley, who was still in the air, saw where the alley ends and her eyes widened. "No, don't-" She hasn't managed to finish her sentence because Chang aimed a big fire ball at her and Haley had to quickly fly back down to avoid it.

"Damn it!" exclaimed Trixie with indignation once she saw that she and Spud have just run to a dead end. "Haley, why didn't you say anything?!"

"Hey, it's not like I haven't tried!" yelled Haley defensively.

Spud nervously rubbed the nape of his neck and blinked at the wall in front of them. "This thing can move, right? Right? There are some super cool magic door behind it, aren't they?"

"I wouldn't count on it if I were you," said a cold voice behind them. Chang arrived, and behind her was standing a very angrily looking elf, who even seemed to get a few friends to join him. "Now, where is the American dragon?" she continued.

"Well, that is actually a very good question," said Haley as she took a few steps backwards. "Although, technically, _I_ am the American dragon."

"What? _You?_ What the hell has Long done?" growled Chang.

Haley shrugged. "We're not sure about that, but everyone seems to be looking for him."

"Yeah, including that Council of yours," added Trixie.

"Why would the Dragon Council be looking for him?!" fumed Chang.

"We don't know, no one tells us anything! So, now that you've found out everything we know, you could maybe take care of these angry elves behind you so that we could calmly leave?" suggested Trixie innocently.

Chang scoffed. "Oh, right. Trust me, a lot of things will be easier for me and my lord without Lao Shi's granddaughter and you two humans." As she spoke, the elves started to surround them. "So say goodbye!"

Haley flew forward and tried to battle with Chang, but it didn't take long and Chang effortlessly threw her away. Chang then took a deep breath and they could already see a small flame forming in her mouth, one that will without doubt get much, much bigger and deadlier.

While Haley gasped and Trixie rapidly looked around for an escape route, Spud took a determined step forward and raised his hands.

"Step away from my best friend's sister and my actual sister, you ugly lizard witch!" When he finished his sentence, fierce white light emerged from Spud's hands, threw Chang and all the elves away and broke the glass in the empty stores' windows.

For a while, no one even dared to breathe. Chang and the elves seemed to be unconscious. Spud, Trixie and Haley stood and looked at all the mess in amazement. Spud still had his hands up.

"Well," said Trixie after a few more seconds and looked at Spud suspiciously. "Are you sure _she_ is the witch, Spudinski?"

.

 _Detroit_

It was almost dark, when suddenly a hoot thundered through the city, and soon a voice followed it.

 _"A special message for the Dark Dragon. If you want to find us, we're at the best disco in the 70's style in the city. You'll manage. Ah uh ohaaa!"_

With a smirk, Fu gave back the magic radio machine to the troll. "Thanks, buddy. Good old Detroit." Then he spoke to Lao Shi: "I can't believe this was _your_ idea."

Lao Shi shrugged. "He'll come. I haven't been on a good disco in ages. Besides, it's a perfect place for a secret meeting."

"Can I dare to remind you that your moves - _fighting_ moves - definitely aren't what they used to be?"

"He won't kill me."

"Well, thanks for the reassurance, that's _exactly_ what _I_ was worried about. Whatever, let's go get on the disco, this will be fun..."

It didn't take long and they arrived on the roof of the disco which Lao Shi said without doubt is "the best one". Fu didn't really get it.

"And now we wait," announced Lao Shi as he sat down.

Fu gazed around the sinister roof. The faint music coming from the disco under them didn't help to calm him down.

"You know, old friend, that I'm usually up for every adventure... but what exactly is the plan if he really shows up?"

Lao Shi closed his eyes, and he seemed to be meditating. "I do not have a plan, however I am sure that if it happens to be Jake who shows up, he won't have any real plan either."

Author's Note: Spud being a wizard is an idea I got from the two episodes ( _The Talented Mr. Long_ and _A Befuddled Mind_ ) where he manages to do some actual magic, with one or two wands. Also, I saw it in other fanfictions, and it's kind of cool :)


	7. Chapter 7

It was evening when they got to the rundown basement which was stinking of dried blood and covered in dust. Rose, still in her Huntsgirl clothing, took a worn-out cloak out of a cabinet and tossed it to Jake. „Wear this with the hood up, so that your face will stay hidden. The wizards like to go around dressed like that, and the Huntsman at least won't see your face."

Then she proceeded to throw down a few creepy looking tools placed on a big metal box and sat on it. „There, now you can stay hidden here for a couple of days until everything calms down."

It was a big basement, but it looked like no one has been here for ages. All various weapons, mostly wooden, were lying randomly on a ground, hanging on a wall and some were even stuck into dragon dummies. There was also a wooden table in the middle of the room with a few dusty vials filled with outdated poisons of all different colors.

Jake looked around with obvious doubt in his eyes before sitting down next to Rose. „Yeah, cool. I'll just sit here in this... really creepy basement full of things meant to kill me... I guess I'll hide under the table or something everytime someone goes down here for some of this stuff. Alright."

Rose shooke her head. Jake felt a bit annoyed that he's unable to see her face under the mask. „All these weapons are pretty old-fashioned, we use much better ones these days."

Jake ran his finger over a sharp blade of a gigantic ax propped against the wall next to them. „Not better."

Rose shrugged.

Neither of them wanted to start talking about the clear problems they were both facing. While it is true that they successfully dodged the Dragon Council with this hideout, there are still some serious issues. Once the news spread and the Huntsman finds out that a new wizard surfaced, he'll want to meet him and soon it'll be obvious that Jake is no wizard. Maybe they'll also find out that he's actually a dragon, and then both Rose and him will be screwed. Right now they're just praying that they'll manage to stay hidden here in peace for a few days...

„Hey, Rose?"

„Yes?"

„Why is over there on the wall an ancient looking painting of the Dark Dragon?"

Rose jerked her head in the direction Jake was poiting to. She blinked in confusion. There really was a big old painting there, with some parts tattered, but it was still clear who was depicted. But if that's the Dark Dragon...

„Oh my God," she gasped. Then she turned to Jake as fast as possible and grabbed his shoulders with excitement. „Jake! That's it! The Dark Dragon was our Great Dragon!"

„He... what?"

Rose yanked a glove out of her right hand and waved her hand in front of Jake's face, the dragon mark being exposed. „ _This_ is our dragon! _The Dark Dragon!_ The one who formed our original clan!"

„Exactly," said a rough voice and both Jake and Rose flinched and looked in terror to the door.

The Huntsman himself stood there.

Jake bent down his head, so that his face will stay completely hidden under the hood.

Rose immediately jumped to her feet. „Master! What a nice surprise, how are you doing? And what are you... _doing here?_ "

The Huntsman passed by the table of poisons so that he'd get closer to them. The large basement suddenly seemed small in comparison with his giant figure. „I heard voices coming from down here. Who is he?" He pointed his finger at Jake and mistrustfully squinted his dark eyes.

„Just a wizard willing to help you out," answered Jake and he tried to say it with at least a little bit of passion. „... You know. The explosive weapons and deadly poisons and so on. Dragons aren't even who I actually despise, but the Kelpies, _ugh_ , kill all the Kelpies. I really think we should focus on th-"

Rose coughed and Jake stopped talking.

The Huntsman looked them both over. „Yes, Trevor did tell me that you brought a wizard here, Huntsgirl. Good job. But what are you doing _here_? There isn't anything of use in this basement anymore."

„We were... we wanted to... we were trying to..." stuttered Rose as she mindlessly fidgeted with her hands.

„We were trying to find a place when we'll have a little bit of privacy," said Jake and smirked at the Huntsman with mirth in his eyes. „You know, teens and stuff."

Rose glanced to the door behind the Huntsman, probably wondering how big is their chance of escaping.

The Huntsman stared at them, the corner of his mouth quirked up, and his anger suddenly seemed to disappear. „Oh... well, it is true that this is a very nice place. Some of these weapons are indeed adorable, and the little bit of history of dragon slaying in here... Yes, I understand..."

„Sir, weren't you saying that our Great Dragon was the Dark Dragon?" asked Rose as quickly as she could, while the Huntsman was still in a good mood.

The Huntsman grabbed a dagger which was lying on the table and tossed with it effortlessly in his hand. Jake watched the dagger's movement with nervousness.

„Yes," replied the Huntsman after a while. „I'm sure both of you know that the purpose of the Huntsclan is to protect people from magical creatures."

Jake looked as if he was about to say something, but then changed his mind when Rose widened her eyes at him.

„It all happened back in the Middle Ages, when all human were still aware of magic. And they obviously feared it, even though they had the numerical superiority. The Dark Dragon was there. He formed a group of highly trained people meant to protect the weaker from magic. But not much time has passed and the Dark Dragon betrayed us as well, and started to murder his own allies in cold blood. And so the great war between humans and magical creatures began. In the middle of it all, the Dark Dragon managed to escape and disappear. The war raged on, and somewhere between the ashes, the Huntsclan was formed. And we managed to chase the magical creatures into the shadows, where they still remain to this very day. And they'll stay there." As he said the last sentence, the Huntsman stuck the dagger in the table and Jake flinched.

For a while there was silence.

Jake shakily inhaled. „Okay, so what youre telling me is, this is all Dark Dragon's fault and he's the reason you got issues with magical creatures?"

The Huntsman's expression hardened. „You can not phrase it like that, wizard. Yes, the Dark Dragon is the one who started all of this, but he's long dead by now. Back in the old days, they called him the lord of all dragons. Thanks to him we know how dangerous they all are. How I wish I could go back in the past and finish him off myself. In the memory of all the brave men he slaughtered." The Huntsman looked almost dreamy now. He scrutinized the table again and grabbed one azure poison. „To give an example, this beauty wouldn't kill him. It'd just weaken him enough for me to be able to disembowel him as if he was a helpless little kitty."

„That's sweet," remarked Jake drily. „Soo... if this was the Middle Ages and he _happened_ to be alive, representing all the dragons and stuff... and _you_ 'd get to kill him, would that settle everything?"

The Huntsman jerked as if he woke up from a trance and peered at Jake maliciously. „You ask too many questions. You're going to prepare a poison for me tonight that can excellently skin a dragon. If there is just _one_ mistake in it, there'll be a Krylock food out of you. Understood?"

„Loud and clear," murmured Jake. „Poison to skin dragons, I'm great at those."

„That's good to hear." The Huntsman turned around and dramatically left the room.

Rose shakily exhaled and collapsed back on the metal box next to Jake. „What the heck are we supposed to do with this information? There's gotta be a lot of things we still don't know, right?"

Jake shook off his hood and grinned at her. „That may be true, but I just got an idea how to find out."

Rose gave him a half-smile. „You're thinking of doing something stupid, aren't you?"

„Babe, I'm pretty sure I haven't done anything _that_ stupid till now."


	8. Chapter 8

_Detroit_

It didn't take long until they saw him. Even though the sun wasn't shining anymore for quite a while, the black wings were still visible in the darkness and as formidable as ever. The dragon landed on the roof and fully outstretched his wings once more, this time as a warning. Then he let them down alongside his scaly body and his cold eyes scanned his surroundings.

A ghost of a smile flitted across his face.

„Well well," he addressed Lao Shi, who so far stood there without moving a muscle and was watching him with an unreadable expression. "You _surprised_ me. What is the purpose of this late-night meeting? Has the Dragon Council sent you to negotiate with me about them finally giving up their power?"

„Yeah, right, good to know you're as hilarious as ever," remarked Fu, trying to sound nonchalant, but both the Dark Dragon and Lao Shi were aware of how nervous he was.

The Dark Dragon tilted his head in amusement. „You know, I have no problem with easily picking you up and throwing you down from this roof."

„Enough of this," said Lao Shi as he took a few steps forward, still in his human form. He stopped a few meters in front of the Dark Dragon and tried to put his confused thoughts in order. He took in every detail of the dragon before him, noticing things he never did before. Sadness clouded his features.

 _Exactly what kind of dark magic would be capable of making a dragon body ten times bigger and stronger than before? And also influence the colour of its scales in the process?_

It didn't take long for the Dark Dragon to understand what caused Lao Shi's odd behaviour. His expression hardened, and he took a few steps back. „Oh," he hissed. „Is the cat out of the bag already?"

Lao Shi drew a shaky breath and stated: „1972. You weren't trying to kill me, were you? That would be a _huge_ problem for you."

The Dark Dragon scoffed. „If I'd wanted you dead, you'd be dead, believe me."

Lao Shi, with his expression closed up, looked him in the eyes. The best attack should be going after his ego. „Oh, really?"

The Dark Dragon threw him a ferocious glare filled with hatred. He looked ready to lunge at Lao Shi and continue the fight that started thirty-six years ago. Lao Shi was very well aware that since his daughter and Jake have been already born, nothing would stop the Dark Dragon from finishing the fight this time. But he didn't feel any fear. Respect, yes, but he's not about to cower in front of his own grandson or give up without a real fight.

 _No, not in front of his own grandson_. This is not his grandson. His grandson isn't a ruthless killing machine full of rage and venom.

The Dark Dragon abruptly launched towards Lao Shi until there was almost no space between them. As he walked, a blue aura surrounded his whole body, an aura Lao Shi knew very well.

A man, who somehow looked like a forty-year-old, devastated, exhausted and completely _maniac_ Jake, stood over Lao Shi. His eyes flickered with the last bit of the Dark Dragon's magic.

„You're _so_ stupid. You should've known it was me right from the _start_."

Lao Shi gasped, thus for the first time revealing how shook up he really feels. He'd have never predicted that the human form of the Dark Dragon would actually look so much like Jake. Especially since the dragon form is so different.

Jake - _no, not Jake, damn it_ \- laughed mockingly when he saw Lao Shi's reaction and took a few steps back.

Lao Shi, angry at himself for being this taken aback by his enemy - because that's what he is, nothing else - hardened his expression. He stared at the Dark Dragon and asked the first question which was on his mind: „What even is this? That violet spot on your chi that's not supposed to be there - it's not natural. What kind of dark magic did this to you?"

The Dark Dragon waved his hand dismissively. „Time-travelling spell planted into my DNA by a magic buddy. It _did_ have some side effects, but I think they were mostly good ones, don't you?"

Lao Shi shook his head, more to himself than to him. „Something that drastic in your dragon chi, such dark, forbidden magic, could have completely destroyed you, physically and mentally. You also could have died."

„Meh. I survived and it was fine."

Fu wearily looked him over. „Define _fine_."

„Still looking for that death wish?!"

„You know, I don't _care_ anymore, I'll tear you to pieces with my bare paws -"

„Both of you _shut up_!" bellowed Lao Shi. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he wondered why these two have to be so annoying in _every version_. He looked at the Dark Dragon again, fire blazing in his eyes. „Talk. Why did you do this?"

A corner of the Dark Dragon's mouth quirked up. „You know, I don't really have to explain myself to you. Knowing it's all for a good cause should suffice as an explanation, don't you think?"

Lao Shi was red with rage by now. „No. No, it certainly does not suffice, _Jake_. It doesn't at all answer why would my grandson brutally damage his own body beyond repair, all so that he could go back in time and become a _monster_."

For a while, the Dark Dragon just kept staring at him without blinking. Then he sighed and said: „Well. Let me explain you a thing…"

„ _What_ did you just say?!" thundered a new voice, and Lao Shi and Fu flinched a turned around to see the person who said it.

Chang, still wearing the Dragon Council robe, as if she hasn't betrayed them years ago, came out of the shadows looking absolutely baffled.

The Dark Dragon smirked. „Oh. My dear assistant. I was worried you wouldn't make it."

Chang gazed at him and the colour drained from her face. For once she seemed speechless, seeing his human face for the first time.

Fu had very different concerns. „Ehm, how did she know we're here?"

The Dark Dragon shrugged. „I may have been texting her the entire time."

„Waaait a second, wait a second. You just carry a phone with you? Really?"

„STOP TALKING!" yelled Chang at Fu and hit him with a transformed dragon arm. Fu rolled over a few meters away from them and snarled at her. Chang, however, paid no more attention to him and turned back to her lord. She had no doubts about this being her lord. No one else could have these dead, inhuman eyes with a spot of pure evil.

„Sir, I've always known you had to have some human form, but these slurs old senile Lao Shi here was saying… t-that can't be true, right? You cannot… you can't…"

The Dark Dragon folded his hands behind his back and sneered: „What exactly can't I be, Chang?"

„The-the American Dragon!"

The Dark Dragon chuckled humorlessly. „Well, I can assure you that I haven't been the American Dragon for almost twenty years. You could say that's where it all started. I was just about to kindly explain it to Lao over here if you wouldn't mind."

Chang, too dumbfounded to speak, nodded dumbly.

He cleared his throat, which was a strange, _too normal_ thing to see him do, and continued: „The year was 2015. And thanks to an unfortunate mishap a young dragon did and fast technology, suddenly every single person in the world knew of the existence of magical beings and there was no going back."

Fear crossed Lao Shi's face. He already had an idea of where this was going.

„No one expected it to happen, let alone the poor old Dragon Council. They just had _no_ idea what to do. Suddenly everything was revealed, no backup plans, chaos, confusion, and, most importantly, _fear_. And do you know what rises out of fear?"

"Flight?" mumbled Fu once he picked himself up from the ground.

„Fight," said Lao Shi darkly.

The Dark Dragon flicked his hand in Lao Shi's direction, agreeing with him. „Right. As far as I can tell, it went down exactly as it did back in the Middle Ages. Tragic, really. The war for humanity raged on and on for years. Weapons, bombs and planes against wands, potions and fire-breathing dragons." He looked somewhere in the distance and chuckled. „I was the only one who had some objection towards the almighty Dragon Council. Back then it still wasn't late to put an end to it, it wasn't necessary to fight against humans." He huffed and angrily ran a hand through his dishevelled hair. „The Council then proceeded to take away my title of the American Dragon, pretty much rendering me useless after that. No one would just _listen_ to me anymore." He looked straight back at Lao Shi with disdain. „You, dear G, you were... good-for- _nothing_ _._ You just kept rambling about… the light never being too far away… ? I don't even know. My… my…" For a few seconds, the Dark Dragon looked down at the graffiti mess sprayed onto the roof. His clenched fists were shaking a little. „… my friends were _dying_ , and not a single one of you _good guys_ was doing anything to stop it, you were just… contributing to it." He drew a raspy breath before continuing. „In the end, the dragons prevailed. Definitely a different outcome than back in the first war, where magical creatures were the ones forced into the shadows. So I turned to the only friend I had left that I could trust, and he gave me a way to make sure the goddamn war never happens in the first place."

„The time-travelling spell," stated Lao Shi in a deadpan voice.

The Dark Dragon gave him a lopsided grin, and there was something sad in it. „Wasn't it weird how I kept talking about wiping out humanity, and yet I did nothing to make that happen?"

Lao Shi's mouth set in a hard line. „You killed dragons, their protectors."

He sniggered. „I killed dragons who _had_ to be killed to make sure they don't cause any trouble in the future. And just so you know… I don't regret anything. I… don't want to wipe out humanity. I want to save it."

"What?!" blurted out Lao Shi, Fu and Chang all at once.

He stretched an arm over his shoulder, looking almost bored now. „I just kept babbling about killing all the humans to _get_ the pesky dragons to _come_ and fight me. And it worked perfectly each time. The idiot heroic dragons, so eager to save humans from me, not knowing I was actually saving humans from them." He suddenly blinked and shook his head, as if remembering something insignificant. „No, wait, that wasn't actually my first stop in the past. That was visiting the Middle Ages in the vain hope of stopping the _first_ magic war, thinking that _maybe_ that will affect the second one centuries later…"

„You're wrong."

Jake's forehead furrowed, and he stared down at Fu. „I'm sorry?"

„Fu, quiet," hissed Lao Shi at Fu, but the dog ignored him.

„You heard me the first time," Fu said to the Dark Dragon, who narrowed his eyes at him. „You think you're being a noble, self-sacrificing hero by becoming… this, but you're doing it wrong."

„You have no idea what you're even talking about!" spat the Dark Dragon scornfully. „How can you be over 600 years old and this _naive_?! It's not like you were _there_ , you narrow-minded fleaba - "

He cut off in the middle of the sentence and his whole body went numb for a few seconds. His breath quickened. Lao Shi and Fu warily looked at him, expecting an ambush.

But the Dark Dragon then started shaking with laughter. He stumbled a few steps back and his hands gripped onto the railing. He deeply inhaled.

Chang, being suspicious, sized him up. „Are you… alright?" she asked, still unsure of whether she actually cares about this person.

He exhaled and gave her a half-smile. „So far, yes." Then he turned to face Lao Shi and Fu once again. He stood straighter and swiped the nonexistent dust off his clothes. „Sorry, but it looks like I'll have to leave. I need to prevent myself from doing something stupid." His body started transforming as he talked, and big black wings outstretched into the sky soon after. Then, with a speed far exceeding an usual dragon, he took off.

„Where are you going - _COME BACK!_ " yelled Chang after him, her fists clenching in anger, but he was already too far away.


	9. Chapter 9

warning: a knife scene at the end that would never make it to a kids' show

.

 _Montreal_

Rose and a lot of books helped Jake to make that dragon-skinning potion, which was, without doubt, a very odd experience.

With Rose overreacting over every little mishap while being surrounded by more books than he ever read in his entire life, along with making sure that he doesn't accidentally _touch_ the potion he's trying to make… that's something he never wishes to repeat.

On the other hand, it at least gave Jake some general idea about how potions actually work, which he never cared about before, but could be useful now.

Unfortunately, it didn't take long before the Huntsman burst the door to their basement open one more time. That abrupt action caused Jake to make a frightened choked sound, which caused Rose to wince and she almost dropped the spoon filled with the potion, and in that second Jake was sure it will drop on him and he's immediately going to painfully die.

The Huntsman's forehead beneath his mask furrowed when he saw the mayhem his arrival has caused. The man crossed his arms in annoyance and said: „I expected a bit more professionalism from one of my best apprentices and what seemed to be a very promising wizard. Why are you even helping him with that potion, Huntsgirl?"

„I'm not helping him!" explained Rose without missing a beat. „I'm supervising him so that he doesn't set this place on fire by touching stuff he's not supposed to."

„You're holding a spoon with the potion."

„To admire it. It far exceeded my expectations."

The Huntsman sized her up suspiciously. „I'll take your word for that."

Jake cleared his throat to shift the Huntsman's attention to him. „If I may ask, sir, why are we… once again… _honoured_ with your presence?"

The Huntsman bore his eyes into him and snapped his fingers. „Up. You're going with me. We're going dragon-hunting."

The color drained out of Jake's face and he glanced at Rose, who looked confused too.

„But _I'm_ the Huntsgirl!" she exclaimed, actually offended by this.

The Huntsman straightened up and proclaimed: „Yes, but this isn't some street brawl. It's a job demanding people with more experience, and people who know how to cheat," he said, went over to Jake and gripped his shoulder so firmly Jake had to grit his teeth. „Like wizards do. Everyone practising spells is a cheater, and today, we need that." He turned himself and reluctant Jake around and headed back towards the door.

„Where are we going?" asked Jake, who was just trying not to panic.

„Detroit. The flight shouldn't take long with our hovercraft. Our local base there reported a being which looked like the Great Dragon."

Jake widened his eyes. _Don't panic, don't panic, don't panic…_

„What?" blurted out Rose as she ran behind them. „H-he isn't deceased?"

„Some ancient magic must have kept him alive for all these centuries." The Huntsman was almost shaking with excitement. „Good for us! It means _we'll_ get the chance to kill him and avenge our fallen brothers!"

He and Jake were already out of the door by then. Rose followed them, even though she wasn't supposed to.

„Master, are you _sure_ I can't be no help?" she asked.

The Huntsman was about to answer, but a sudden high-pitched sound stopped him.

All the light in the hallway started blinking right after the siren. The Huntsman's eyes widened, and he grabbed his weapon a ran further upstairs.

„What's going on?!" shouted Jake, and even he had trouble hearing himself because of the siren.

„There's an intruder!" replied Rose. Then she grabbed Jake's hand and led him to the opposite route of the one the Huntsman just made. „No enemy has ever found out about this place before, let alone was able to get in! To do that, they'd have to… be extremely powerful _and_ omniscient or... or…" She trailed off, glanced at Jake and pursed her lips together.

„What?" asked Jake with as much innocence as he could muster.

They stopped in front of the underground kitchen, where Jake supposed they went _because who would be in the kitchen while everyone is looking for an intruder upstairs?_

Rose pushed her hand on the scanner and the door opened, revealing that there _was_ actually someone in there.

Rose gazed into the kitchen with a stunned look. Jake breathed a sigh of relief and took off the hood from his head.

„… or to have someone on the inside," muttered Rose and threw an annoyed look at Jake, who was now grinning.

„Jakey!" exclaimed Trixie as she threw herself around him. „I just had the most _terrible_ two days, and I blame you for it, but, oh boy, I missed you so much!"

After she let go of him, Haley, much to Jake's shock, also hugged him. Spud meanwhile tried to fist bump with Rose, which didn't work out.

„Jake, _how_ did they know we're here and how to get in?" she asked. She knew the answer, but still hoped she was wrong.

Jake shrugged and rubbed the nape of his neck. „I've been… kinda texting them the entire time? I thought they could help, you know?"

Spud sheepishly raised his hand. „I'm a wizard, apparently, does that help?"

„ _What_?!" shrieked Jake and Rose and their mouths fell open.

„Yeah, knowing that's how Jake got here, I just told this to the guys upstairs, showed off some magic, and they let me in."

„We thought we could sneak up in with him," added Haley and wrapped her arms around herself once she wasn't hugging her brother anymore. „But… well… the alarm went off pretty fast."

„It's astonishing that you got as far as you did," remarked Rose. She kneeled in front of Haley and put her staff in Haley's hands. „I think it'll be better if you and Trixie stay here. If someone comes in, use this. Do _not_ turn into a dragon, they'd just aim to kill immediately."

Haley nodded and fixated her gaze on the weapon.

Spud raised his hand again. „What about me?"

Rose lifted her eyebrows. „Are you _sure_ you're a wizard?"

„Yep."

„He took down Chang, knocked out her _and_ a small army of elves," grinned Trixie, sounding proud of her friend.

Jake blinked at Spud. „You did what?"

Spud waved his hand dismissively. „Ah, it was nothing!"

Trixie threw him a disbelieving look. „You slept on the bus all the way here."

„It was a ten-hour ride, what else was I supposed to do?!"

Haley sighed and sat down, having had enough of these two bickering with each other after being with them for so long.

„Okay, okay, _Spud_." Rose raised her voice by now. „Can you do a good voice impression of Jake?"

Spud stuck his nose up in the air. „I believe so, yeah."

„ _What_?" mouthed Jake at him. Spud either didn't notice or chose to ignore him.

Jake sighed and decided to let that slide, and, knowing where Rose was going with this, took off the cloak she gave him. „Take this on."

After Spud had the cloak on and started to admire himself in a tablespoon he found, Rose took Jake's hand again. A corner of her mouth lifted. „This plan of yours better work."

Jake looked down on the ground and then away. „Well… it's… you know… not an actual plan, more like a… a really _clever_ thought."

Rose's smile faded.

Jake started to rub his hands together in anticipation. „Okay, so… the Dark Dragon… the Great Dragon… _me_. He's, like, really important to you guys, right?"

„He's the reason the Huntsclan exists."

„Right. Good enough. Well, in order for my plan to work, I'm gonna need Spud to go with the Huntsman pretending to be me. For distraction. I'm, meanwhile, going to be working on my… thought."

Trixie turned to him and sneered. „That sounds like something that's _bound to_ fail."

„Yeah, she's right," nodded Haley.

Jake just shrugged.

A few minutes later, him, Rose and Spud were ready to go. They said to Trixie and Haley, _the intruders_ , that if everything goes well, they should be back in an hour. As they walked away from the kitchen, Spud kept adjusting his cape the entire time while training his impression of Jake's voice, much to Jake's chagrin.

It didn't take long until Jake stopped them and whispered: „The Huntsman is in the next corridor. I can hear him."

Rose drew a shaky breath and leaned forward so that she could kiss Jake briefly on the lips. „Good luck."

„You too, babe."

„I'm here too."

„We know, Spud."

Rose and Spud continued towards the Huntsman, while Jake stayed hidden. He should get going by now, but he couldn't help but listen.

„Master!"

„Oh, Huntsgirl. And you're still with your wizard, good."

„Did you find the intruders?"

„We'll find them. No one can hide here for long. Get your bag, wizard. We're flying to Detroit."

 _The one you're looking for… he won't be in Detroit_ , thought Jake, and finally went to begin his plan.

He decided the best place to do this would be back in the basement no one uses.

He frantically looked around, searching for things he could use. His eyes settled on the table with the many potion vials, including the still bubbling cauldron with his dragon-skinning potion. He came over to the table and took a spoon out of the potion, his hand shaking a little.

 _No, no. What is he even doing. Not this._

He let the spoon down again and felt much better now that he ruled out _that_ option.

He looked on the table once again. This time he also saw the knife Rose and him used for the potion ingredients. He grabbed it with his right hand and studied it. It was definitely no ordinary kitchen knife, no, this thing has several options of using.

He exhaled and stumbled a few steps away from the table, the knife still in his hand. This is fine. This is _fine_.

 _Why is his heart beating so hard, if it's fine?_

He took a few more steps back until his back was against a wall. He leaned his hand onto it and looked in the ceiling. He grabbed the knife harder, trying to make his fingers stop shaking. He took another few deep breaths.

Then he moved the knife towards his other hand and pressed the blade into the skin.

He winced when the cold blade touched his arm, and then the pain quickly followed. He hissed and bit his lip.

 _Come on. Come on._

„I'm killing myself in here!" he grunted, much louder than he planned to. He pressed the blade deeper and squeezed his eyes shut.

 _If they share the same chi… that's a magic connection right there, right? He should know. He has to know._

Once the blade went even deeper into his skin, his hand was trembling so hard he let go of the knife. After that, he immediately dropped to his knees. He grabbed his arm around the injury, cried out, and leaned down until his forehead touched the floor.

„You gotta be kidding me."

Jake weakly lifted his head.

There he is.

The first thought which crossed Jake's mind was: _When exactly did he decide wearing nothing but black looks good?_


	10. Chapter 10

Jake was feeling dizzy. A few tears were running down his cheeks, so he squeezed his eyes shut. But he could also already feel his dragon powers working on healing him, little sparklers of magic spreading through his entire body and helping to calm him down.

He managed to laugh, but it sounded forced. „Shouldn't you, _you_ of all people, know that I'd never actually _kill myself_? But you felt it, right? You felt what I was doing and now you're here, to stop me."

The guy Jake supposed was his older self (he didn't see much that much resemblance) hid the long black wings he must have used to get here. A tight-lipped smile formed on his face. He took a piece of cloth from where it was lying next to a spear on the ground and threw it at Jake.

„Keep applying pressure on it… you idiot."

Jake caught the cloth and noticed that it had dried blood on it. He'd guess a dragon one. _Well, I'm sure no one will mind if I add some._

The Dark Dragon's eyes gleamed viciously as he sat down on the only chair in the room and stared at Jake. „You know, I had to keep our grandpa waiting because of you."

Jake raised his head to look at him instead of the wound. „In Detroit?"

An exasperated sigh. „What does it _matter_. I suppose you only called because you also want to know what happened to me? Sorry, _us_."

Jake threw him a cheeky grin. „Maybe I called so that I could _stop_ you."

The Dark Dragon's mouth curved into a sardonic smile. „Oh please. Don't make this harder than it already is, kid."

Jake slowly picked himself up from the ground and gestured to the painting behind the Dark Dragon's head. „What's that, then? There's no way the Huntsman has the whole story."

The Dark Dragon didn't need to turn around to know what he was pointing to. He closed his eyes, rubbed his forehead. He seemed almost tired when he finally replied: „No, no, I suppose he doesn't. It's not like he was _there_."

„He said you formed the Huntsclan, and then betrayed them."

His eyes snapped open and the fatigue that may have been there was gone. He leaned forward and hissed: „The Huntsclan formed itself. What I created was an army of people designed to protect the ordinary and prevent the first great war from happening. I obviously failed at that. The stupid little _insects_ started to kill off every magical being they saw without a second thought. They were deluding themselves that they can somehow _control_ magic. They were foolish morons, all of them. So yes, I killed them. Or most of them. I thought they'll stop targeting dragons if I leave a few of them alive. If I show them mercy. But the fools instead dedicated their lives to hunting dragons down. I left to another time, knowing there's no more helping them. I'm not proud of it, but it's done and trying to erase the Huntsclan from history _now_ would affect too many things."

The Dark Dragon abruptly stood up and paced for a while until turning back to Jake and asking: „Who else knows I'm here?"

Jake shrugged. „I think… no one? But someone could burst in any second, they're looking for intruders. Those are actually Haley and Trixie, but I'd say it's more probable they'll check this room instead of where they are."

A flash of hurt crossed the Dark Dragon's face. „Haley," he said softly. „I see. Well… I have to say, I do _not_ enjoy hanging out in one of the Huntsclan's most important headquarters."

„Yeah, that makes two of us," muttered Jake, and then he thought: _Or does that still make one of us?_ He almost chuckled at the thought.

But then he looked at the man again and his amusement disappeared. He still had a hard time believing this is supposed to be him. In the future. The face features that looked the same freaked him out the most. Not the red-rimmed, almost unblinking, eyes, the ragged clothes or the skin as pale as a ghost. That's just something that makes him look like a stranger. That's not what's terrifying.

The Dark Dragon noticed his look of distress.

„What's wrong, Jake?" he teased. „Don't like what you see? That's too bad. Don't worry though - you won't end up like me. I already sacrificed myself by coming to the past."

Jake threw away the cloth. The bleeding already stopped. He swallowed hard.

„Yeah, why did you do that? To stop a war in the Middle Ages? I mean, I'm usually supportive of all the hero stuff, but _really_?"

The Dark Dragon tsked in annoyance before answering: „That wasn't my real goal. I wanted to stop the war happening in the _future_."

Jake froze and stared at him, disbelief written all over his face.

„The war was the result of people finding out about the magic world once again. I was the only one willing to fight against the _war_ , so I did."

Jake jerked his head vaguely. „Well?"

The Dark Dragon raised his eyebrows. „What?"

Jake then asked what the Dark Dragon thought was the only question that actually mattered, and he wondered how has no one ever asked him this before. They have more in common than he thought.

„ _Did_ you stop it? The war I mean?"

The Dark Dragon paused for a second. He glanced at the portrait of his dragon form on the wall behind him. Then he straightened, and, with a blank expression, said: „No."

He sighed deeply and elaborated: „After humans found out about us and started the war, millions of lives were lost. Dragons ultimately wielded power. They killed Ro… whatever. A reign of terror started, and I was banished. So, thanks to Spud, I got the ability to time-travel, and almost died while learning to control it. Then I went to the past to kill the dragons who I blamed for the war."

„That… doesn't sound right."

The Dark Dragon chuckled humorlessly. „You wouldn't know, you're just a kid. Anyway. I got rid of almost all the dragons that had to die, but there's still the Dragon Council. And getting to _them_ isn't easy." He threw Jake a dirty look. „Especially after _you_ and that pesky Australian kid, who I also wanted to get rid of, exposed mine and Chang's hideout at the Isle of Draco."

„Hmph," shrugged Jake, not at all bothered. „I heard Chang got knocked out."

„Er, she's just fine."

Jake slowly made his way towards the table which was now behind the Dark Dragon's back, his face blank. „So, the Dragon Council is still a problem of yours. And how does the Huntsclan fit in all of this?"

The Dark Dragon watched him to make sure he isn't doing anything stupid again, and then replied: „Hard to tell, as they didn't exist in my version of events. But the Huntsclan is now the only big, international human group that knows about magic. So if the war still happens… they should pretty much represent the entire human race. If we were able to make some sort of a peace treaty with _them_ , I suppose that could settle some things, but you and I both know that will never happen."

„Right," muttered Jake. He leaned on the table and hissed in pain when he felt the wound again. That's when he got an idea. It was probably a stupid idea. Well, not as stupid as pretending to kill himself, but a good contender. He glanced at the Dark Dragon from the corner of his eye and then quickly looked back at the table when the man noticed.

„Well," whispered the Dark Dragon after a few minutes of silence. „What are you going to do about it now? Still want to stop me?"

„Yeah." The Dark Dragon glared at Jake when he replied so quickly. Jake smirked. „I'm just sayin'."

The Dark Dragon scoffed. „I couldn't care less. You can't stop me. Lao Shi can't stop me, the Council can't stop me. And there's no way _I'm_ gonna stop, so don't even bother trying to convince me or begging. It's all already written in the stars. There's no stopping it."

Jake took a few steps back, anticipating an attack for what he's about to say. „You're crazy. _Written in the stars_? _Really_? You don't even care about saving all those people anymore, you just want to be right. And for everyone to accept you're right. Well, guess what. You're not."

Jake was smirking at that point, and the Dark Dragon lunged towards him, his face twisted in anger. He didn't get far though. He stopped abruptly when the door to the basement burst open.

At least ten hunters barged into the room, their weapons aimed at them. Jake immediately surrounded himself in the blue aura which turned him into a dragon. He prayed none of the hunters managed to get a look at his face.

It must have been just an old instinct when the Dark Dragon also transformed. Jake saw the brief panicked look on his face when he realised it was a mistake, but it was too late to go back. Everyone already saw it.

The hunters' jaws dropped.

„T-the Great Dragon!"

„Kill him! Kill him!"

„ _No_! He's for the Huntsman to kill!"

Jake swore that the Dark Dragon actually rolled his eyes at that. He knew there's no way they'll succeed at capturing him.

As the hunters approached the raging Dark Dragon, Jake retreated further into the room. It's not like they're taking notice of him, he's basically invisible next to the other dragon.

He toyed with the idea he got a few moments ago. He saw the Dark Dragon preparing to send a ball of fire at the hunters, and he knew he has only a few seconds to decide.

 _But he can't let him murder the Council… at least not when he thought of a better solution. A solution that might prevent the war. There's a small chance of it actually working, but it's still better than anything the Dark Dragon did…_

Jake flew towards the table and grabbed an azure potion, hoping that it wasn't prepared by someone as unqualified as him. In the few seconds he wasn't paying attention, the Dark Dragon already managed to wound two hunters, who were now wriggling on the ground.

He didn't hesitate anymore, he flew high enough to be at the Dark Dragon's level, and threw the liquid from the vial towards his head.

The Huntsman's words from before were ringing in his ears.

 _To give an example, this beauty wouldn't kill him. It'd just weaken him enough for me to be able to disembowel him as if he was a helpless little kitty..._

The Dark Dragon wailed. He turned around and tried to strike Jake with his claws, but his movements were slow and weak. He screamed again, this time in frustration. The remaining hunters took their chance and attacked him again. Jake himself had trouble avoiding the rays coming from their staffs, and they weren't even aiming at him.

The Dark Dragon looked ready to pass out. His eyes stayed open though, and he slowly turned around to look at Jake.

„You're just like me, aren't you," he rasped. It wasn't a question. Saying that must have took the last bit of his energy. The hunters took hold of him right after and his eyes closed.

The hunters dragged the huge dragon out of the basement. Jake followed them, trying to stay hidden in the shadows.

One of the hunters who wasn't helping to carry the dragon pulled out a phone and called what Jake assumed was the Huntsman. He told him to abort the trip to Detroit.

They met with the Huntsman in front of the arena. He looked furious, at least until he saw what they brought him and found out they weren't pulling his leg. His eyes widened.

Spud, who was tailing behind him, stopped abruptly when he saw the giant unconscious dragon. He gasped and took a few steps back. He hadn't noticed Jake yet, even though he was trying to get his attention by waving his hands at him.

Jake looked at the Huntsman again and wondered why his fur coat appeared to be burned.

He decided to ignore it and flew over the heads of the hunters before him. They shrieked when he did that, they must have completely forgotten there was actually a second dragon. Jake landed in front of the Huntsman. Spud quietly whimpered, most likely wondering what the hell is he doing.

„Hey," greeted Jake the still shocked Huntsman cheerfully. „Dude. Just so you know, this is the real Great Dragon. And it wasn't your guys who defeated him, it was me. He's the weakest he ever was." He was still talking to the Huntsman, but his eyes were now fixated on his enraged future self, who appeared to be waking up. Out of the corner of his eye, he also saw Spud frantically shaking his head. That didn't stop Jake from saying the following sentence: „We're giving up."

.

Author's Note: Okay, why did THIS took me almost a year to write? The next chapter is the last one, but it's basically just an epilogue, it's already written and I'll post it tomorrow.


	11. Chapter 11

„ _Here you have the Dark Dragon, your Great Dragon. That's right, he never died. Still a very respectable leader of our entire race, and you have him at your mercy!"_

„ _I think we could arrange a deal."_

Those words kept repeating themselves in Jake's head. He was still like 70% sure this is a mistake and it will cost him his, his friends' and sister's lives, but the talk he had with the Huntsman gave him hope. Maybe he's an honest dude.

The enormous body hit the ground.

The entire arena trembled when it did.

Even though the Dark Dragon woke up a long time ago and seemed to regain some of his strength, he was still nowhere near being his former powerful self. He fought like… an average dragon would.

Haley looked away and grabbed Jake's hand to the point it almost hurt when the blood poured on the ground. With all the commotion that was going on, it wasn't hard for her and Trixie to sneak out of the kitchen, put on some Huntsclan masks and find the others.

Rose blinked at the dead body, then turned to Jake with a bewildered expression. „Jake, what the hell?"

He didn't answer her. He just kept watching the Huntsman, who was wiping off the blood on his staff. It didn't take long until the Huntsman noticed.

„You!" he thundered, and his voice echoed through the entire arena. „American Dragon!"

Jake closed his eyes for a second, then outstretched his wings and flew towards him. He heard his sister gasping surprisingly, but tried his best to ignore it.

Jake landed in front of the Huntsman. He felt pretty uneasy, standing there in a giant arena with him still having _his_ blood smeared on the weapon. The dead body next to them didn't help to calm him down.

Jake heard Rose also leaving the stands and going after him. He turned to look at her. Her hardened expression made him think that she's getting ready to fight the Huntsman and all his present men if he attacked Jake.

The Huntsman grunted, threw the staff on the ground next to the Dark Dragon, and then turned to Jake.

„Thank you for this gift."

Jake forced himself to laugh, but it came out sounding too nervous. „I-it was nothing."

The Huntsman bore his eyes into him and asked: „You're speaking for your entire species, now that the Great Dragon was killed?"

Jake lifted his head proudly. „Yes."

He swore he could feel the dubious looks Haley and Trixie on the stands behind him sent him.

The Huntsman looked to one of his advisors, who made his way over to them, eying Jake warily. They whispered something to each other so quietly Jake's dragon ears didn't recognize the words.

The Huntsman then glared back at Jake. He lifted his hand which was holding the staff a few moments ago.

„Then I hope you and the other beings are no longer any threat to us, humans, anymore."

Jake breathed a quiet sigh of relief. He felt a sudden urge to dance, but tried to control it.

„You got it, pal," he said and shook his hand.

 _Now I'll just have to go and run this by the Dracon Council. Easy._

„And about _you_ ," the Huntsman's voice turned disdainful again when he looked at Spud. He now stood few meters behind him and seemed to be trying to make himself look as small as possible. „Even with the relatively good potion you made, you're still the worst wizard this place has ever seen. After setting my fur coat on fire, consider yourself lucky I'm _just_ letting you go."

Jake stifled a laugh, reminding himself that this is a serious situation.

„Huntsgirl!" barked the Huntsman.

Rose passed by Jake with her hands folded behind her back. „Yes, master?"

„Do you have any explanation for this?"

Rose glanced at Spud with an unreadable expression before replying: „He must be a master of deceit. He really made me think he's a talented wizard."

Spud dutifully nodded.

The Huntsman stared at Rose for a few seconds without either of them blinking.

Then he declared: „Well, it _is_ obvious that you were an accomplice to all of this. You're fired. Get out with all your little friends and be grateful I'm in a good mood. But you better hope I don't ever see your face again."

„Yes, master," answered Rose. It was clear she was having trouble trying not to sound as cheerful as she did.

Jake coughed. „Ehm, I got a question."

The Huntsman seemed to be losing his patience. _„Yes?_ "

„From what job exactly are you firing her? I mean… if the Huntsclan now kind of… ended?"

The Huntsman narrowed his eyes at him. „We will still work as a military organization aiming to protect humans. Does anyone have any other question?" He raised his voice with the last sentence and looked around, _daring_ anyone to have a question.

„No one? Really? Then get out," he said, turned around and left the arena. His advisers followed him, a few of them throwing Jake dirty looks, clearly not agreeing with what happened.

Rose's whole face lit up when he was gone.

„YES!" she sang out and threw herself around Jake's scaly body.

„I CAN STILL HEAR YOU!" roared the Huntsman from wherever he was.

„Thank you," she whispered into Jake's ear, ignoring her former boss' shout.

Then she ran out to change into her normal clothes. Spud threw off his cloak. Haley and Trixie came over to them and tossed away the Huntsclan masks they were wearing. Trixie stuck out her tongue at some former hunters who were still glaring after them. They left.

No one said much during the long bus ride back to New York. They were all too tired and overwhelmed by what happened to talk about it.

Rose spent the entire ride peacefully sleeping next to Jake, who had the urge to close his eyes a few times, but he never fell asleep. Trixie read at least five magazines and spent a while chatting with some random passenger next to her about horoscopes. Spud sat in the back of the bus, quietly playing with a magic wand he must've taken somewhere in the headquarters. Haley watched him, sometimes giving him advice, sometimes just admiring how talented he already is.

When the ride was finally over and they took the subway to get to Lao Shi's electronics shop, which was empty, the first thing Jake did was slump on the sofa. Then he pulled out a phone and called his mom to let her know him and Haley are okay. Haley grabbed his phone when he was in the middle of a sentence and started chattering with their mother herself. Jake rolled his eyes.

While Haley was still talking (about dance classes, apparently) and Spud wrapped one of Lao Shi's robes around his shoulders to see how it looks with his new wand, Rose came over to the still lying Jake.

She gently nudged his chest. „Hey. Talk to me. Please."

Jake's mouth twitched. „It's okay. I just needed some time to myself."

Her eyebrows rose. „One would think you'd have enough of yourself by now."

„Er, you have a point."

Trixie sneered as she peered at them. „It's so disgustingly cute how much the two of you are in love."

Jake's eyes snapped open and he quickly sat. „Love? What? No… It's-it's eh… sort of different - it's not…" He looked at Rose and his face reddened.

Rose smirked at Trixie. „Yeah, we _know_."

Jake smiled blissfully to himself and laid back down.

Fu Dog chose this exact moment to burst the door of the shop open.

His eyes scanned over the entire scene. Spud twirling around in front of a mirror with a wand and Lao Shi's robe. Haley cutting off mid-sentence while speaking to someone on the phone. Trixie and Rose smiling smugly at each other at some inside joke. And, finally, Jake lying on the sofa looking dead.

He pointed a paw at him and yelled: _„What_ did you do, kid?!"

Jake jumped to his feet. „Me?!" he retorted. „ _I_ just made a peace treaty with the _Huntsclan_. Where were you?!"

Lao Shi walked into the shop and pushed the dog away on his way. „Fu, stop shouting at him. That's my job."

Jake breathed a sigh of relief when he saw his grandpa. He'd been nervous since the Dark Dragon said he left him in Detroit. He leaned down to hug him.

Fu meanwhile looked at Trixie and Spud. „We met two guys from the Dragon Council on our way here. They said they know you."

Trixie and Spud glanced at each other.

„What did you tell them?" asked Trixie.

„They had the nerve to show us Jake's photo while asking where he is, so Lao Shi, my hero, started screaming at them in Chinese until they ran away."

Spud whistled. „Nice."

It took a while until they all told each other their respective stories (there was a lot of screaming and near-fainting involved). Lao Shi then got up and said he still needs to go deal with the Dragon Council. Jake blanched, honestly completely forgetting about _that_. Right. He's technically a fugitive. Well, just wait till they hear he did why they were being completely useless (suddenly he understands his older self's frustration with them).

Lao Shi took Haley home on his way. She has been rambling about needing to do her homework for almost an hour by then, but she at the same time refused to leave, insisting that she is _a part of this_.

Jake said he needs to go clear his head, so he, Rose, Trixie and Spud headed to the skatepark. It's not like any of them had skateboards, but that didn't matter. It was already dark, and they all felt the fresh summer air around them. Spud was still hanging on to his new wand, and he was now trying to make light with it.

They leaned against the ramp and stood in comfortable silence for a while.

Trixie, unable to stay still for long, nudged Jake in the arm and asked a simple question.

„Hey, Jakey… could you just… _not_ become a jerk?"

Jake laughed and winked at her. „You know, they say some things are just written in the stars."

„Ah, well, _they_ have no idea what they're talking about."

Spud for a few seconds stopped waving with the wand and nervously coughed. „Wasn't he… kind of right though? I mean, if there was supposed to be some big war in the future…"

„No, he wasn't," responded Jake without having to think about it. „There were million better ways to handle this than to… stop a war with… an another war."

Rose looked down and nibbled on her bottom lip. Then she stated: „Jake, but all we did was arranging a peace treaty with someone who we _think_ may be able to prevent the war from happening. The Huntsclan, or whatever they'll call themselves these days, existing and being on our side is the only difference from the… original timeline. We don't even know how will people find out about magic and when that happens, so it's probably gonna happen again and we could still end up with a war."

Trixie raised an eyebrow. „Wow, aren't you just a ray of sunshine," she said drily.

Jake didn't seem bothered. He glanced up to the sky and smiled. „Well, at least we know how to _not_ act if the war happens."

Right as he said that, a single shining star rose up. They all froze and watched that little beautiful thing just floating in the air right in front of them.

„It can't be already written in the stars if we make some new stars," declared Spud, sounding very smug and still waving his wand to keep the tiny star floating.

Trixie stared at him. „Spudinski," she said slowly. „That was so deep."

Rose leaned forward to the new source of light. „It's beautiful," she whispered. She felt tears beginning to sting her eyes and quickly wiped it off.

Magic and humans don't work together well. Conflicts will occur. They just saved the near future, but God knows what happens next.

As he thought about that, Jake got yet another stupid idea.

„Hey," he spoke. His eyes were still watching the star, even though looking at the bright light for that long wasn't comfortable even to his enhanced senses. „What if we controlled the destiny a bit? The stars? I mean, like, if we right now went to a TV studio and revealed that magic is real?"

Trixie scoffed. „Yeah, that's a good one…. oh wait, you're serious."

„JAKE, NO!"

He just laughed.

.

.

Author's Note: So why don't we reeewrite the stars? Maybe the world could be ouuurs… _tonight_.


End file.
